This month’s Observer Music Monthly’s cover story is dedicated to speculation about Michael Jackson’s comeback. Whereas there is little new information and some tabloidish exaggeration, it seems more or less plausible. The writer concludes that:
Whatever his dissenters might say, he remains one of the greatest icons in pop history, a man touched with musical genius, who revels in the razzle dazzle of his self-created pageantry. If his life so far has been an unforgettable performance, the finale promises to be show-stopping. There is no one who could stage a comeback quite like Michael Jackson.
Recently, there has been a number of MJ-related samples floating around. The most popular is, of course, Don’t Stop The Music by Rihanna, but there are also others:
I personally like D.A.N.C.E by Justice, which does not strictly use any MJ tunes, but it clearly a tribute to him:
I also like Kanye West’s A Good Life, which samples P.Y.T:
will.i.am’s Fantastic makes excellent use of I Want You Back riffs as well:
I think any and all of these songs are quite a bit better than the remixes attached to Thriller 25.
The best recent tribute to MJ has been in the form of an underground mixtape by Rhymefest, which includes genious mixes of MJ’s songs as well as humorous outtakes from interviews making it something that a recent MJ record has never been: light, funny and relaxed. Download Rhymefest’s Man In The Mirror MJ dedication album now. It’s free.
Thriller 25 is going to be a big thing at the Grammys. Will there be a performance by the King of Pop? I will be watching the awards live (This Sunday night at 3am Estonian time Pro 7).
Update 11 Feb 08: No MJ, no Thriller 25 at the Grammys. A missed opportunity, I wonder what happened.
Some time ago I wrote about the time when Michael Jackson participated in the Simpsons TV show (episode Stark Raving Dad). He was not allowed to sing any of the songs he wrote for the show (it later became clear he had also written the biggest Simpsons hit Do The Bartman). Now, the original version of Lisa, It’s Your Birthday surfaced on YouTube. Compare it with the performance of the song by the stand-in singer, the latter was used for the show.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was issued 25 years ago, pushing him into superstardom beyond belief. This article sums it up pretty well.
People talk about Michael Jackson making a comeback. Come back and do what–levitate? Comebacks are for mortals. You don’t comeback after being Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson just is. He is his own global culture, his own musical manifestation. Come back and do what? He’s done it all. The Michael Jackson of “Thriller” is forever etched in time, for all time. Now, he’s just Michael Jackson.
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